Bangkok--14 Sep--Grayling (Thailand) The Janusz Korzack School of S.E. Asia - inspired by a Polish-Jewish Holocaust victim who was a hero to orphans and street children - officially opened yesterday in Bangkok's Klong Toey slum. Presiding over the school's launch, held at the Human Development Foundation's Mercy Centre in Klong Toey, were the Israeli and Polish ambassadors to Thailand and Father Joe Maier, HDF-Mercy Centre's founder and chairman. A classical Thai dance troupe, comprising orphans living in the Mercy Centre homes and shelters, also performed at the ceremony. Janusz Korzack, a renowned Polish-Jewish Holocaust-era orphanage director, doctor, writer and advocate for the rights of poor children, is remembered for protecting his orphans to their last day in the Warsaw ghetto, and for leading them in a dignified march on the very final day, when they were ordered onto the trains to the Treblinka death camp. Founded by Father Joe Maier, the Janusz Korzack school educates poor street children and orphans who for a variety of reasons are unable to attend government schools, including children who were abandoned or sold when they were young, as well as special needs orphans and orphans living with HIV/AIDS . “It is fantastic to see how our first pupils, over just a short period of time, were able to re-integrate into a normal school system,” commented executive director Usanee Jangeeon at the official event. She concluded, “We are delighted to officially open our doors at the Janusz Korzack school today, and we look forward to welcoming many more children in need, offering them a bridge in their education leading to normal schooling,” The Janusz Korczak School also prepares high academic achieving poor children for college and university studies. The Human Development Foundation - Mercy Centre is an independent community-based organization, founded over thirty years ago to strengthen the poorest communities in Bangkok and protect their children. HDF-Mercy Centre programs are based on partnerships, including social contracts, with the poorest residents of Bangkok. Among these partnerships, the foundation operates twenty-nine preschools in Bangkok's poorest neighborhoods, giving over 4,000 disadvantaged children their first lessons in reading and writing in preparation for government schools. (In Picture - Polish Ambassador Dr Bodgan Goraicyk (back row, first from the right), Israeli Ambassador H.E Yael Rubinstein (back row, second from the right) honorary chairmen of the opening ceremony of the Janusz Korczak School of S.E.Asia. The school's founder Father Joe Maier (back row first from the left) and Mercy Centre's executive director Mrs. Usanee Janngeon (back row, second from left) from the Human Development Foundation (Mercy Centre) can be seen on the photo together with some of the school children.) For further media information please contact: Stephanie Batot or Nuttaporn Tangwongsan Grayling (Thailand) [email protected] ; [email protected] Tel: 02 231 8434 Fax: 02 231 8121